Navigating Windows 8 Apps on a Tablet

The Windows 8 Start screen on your tablet serves up a smorgasbord of apps, each built to handle a specific task. But no matter how much the apps differ, each one shares the same basic commands. These tips work in every app, whether it came bundled with your Windows 8 tablet, or you downloaded it from Microsoft Store:

Open an app: From the Start screen, tap the app's tile with a finger. (You can return to the Start screen with a press of your Windows 8 tablet's Windows key.)

Close an app: Apps needn't be closed; they don't consume battery power when they're not being used. But if you really want to close your currently viewed app, slide your finger all the down the Windows 8 tablet's screen, from the top edge to bottom edge.

Change an app's settings: Fetch the Charms bar by sliding your finger inward from the screen's right edge. Then tap the Charms bar's Settings icon.

Search an app's contents: Fetch the Charms bar, tap the bar's Search icon, and type your search term in the Search box.

Print from an app: Fetch the Charms bar, tap the bar's Device's icon, and tap your printer's name. (Not all apps can print.)

View an app's menus: Slide your finger up from screen's bottom edge or down a bit from the top edge.

Return to your last-used app: Slide your finger from the screen's left edge to the right edge; your last-used app drags itself into view.

See currently running apps: Slide your finger in slightly from the screen's left edge and then back to the left edge. A strip appears along the left edge, displaying thumbnails of your currently running apps. To return to an app, tap its thumbnail.